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Geno Baroni (1930-1984) -- Catholic Priest & Civil Rights Activist

Born in Acosta PA to Italian immigrant parents, Baroni was ordained a Catholic priest in 1956. Being assigned to an urban poor congregation in Washington DC, he became active in the cause of civil rights. He was the Catholic Coordinator for the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at which Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech; he also marched with King in Selma, Alabama, in March 1965. In 1975 Baroni was instrumental in founding the National Italian American Foundation in 1975 and served as its first president. In 1977, he was offered position in the Carter administration as Housing and Urban Development Assistant Secretary for Neighborhood Development, Consumer Affairs, and Regulatory Functions. He died of cancer in 1984.